


Advanced Country

by banditess



Series: Ardynoct Week 2017 [1]
Category: Final Fantasy XV
Genre: Alternate Universe, Chocobos, Everything is Beautiful and Nothing Hurts, Hunter!Ardyn, Implied Sexual Content, M/M, Selkies, Top!Noct, bottom!Ardyn
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2017-10-01
Updated: 2017-10-01
Packaged: 2019-01-07 15:41:50
Rating: Mature
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,435
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/12235839
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/banditess/pseuds/banditess
Summary: In an Eos where there was never a Starscourge and no Chosen King of Light, Ardyn Izunia is a Hunter, taking down marks for cash. But when he loses sight of one mark, he finds much more interesting prey -- or doeshebecomeitsprey?





	Advanced Country

**Author's Note:**

> Happy Ardynoct Week! :) This was written for Day 1: Mythology. Inspired by myths of selkies/celestial maidens and their hagoromo and twisted for our nefarious purposes. Enjoy! ♥

Ardyn Izunia was overjoyed to stumble upon the small oasis in the middle of the arid Leidan terrain. He’d been tracking a sabertusk for what felt like ages -- he’d taken the Hunt in Hammerhead and was most of the way to Longwythe -- but somehow the tracks of the damned thing had come to a dead end, with no trace of what direction it might have gone. So instead he’d simply kept wandering, hoping to pick up the trail again.  
  
It was during this wandering that he’d happened upon the oasis, hidden behind a thicket of thorny bushes. He could have sworn he saw a tuft of glossy black sabertusk mane caught on one of the bushes -- but the only tracks around appeared to be human and chocobo. Unremarkable. Ardyn followed them through the brush, expecting to find an old hunter’s supply cache, perhaps. Instead, as he stood up and brushed the dust from his trousers, his eyes landed on the one thing you very much _don’t_ expect to find in the desert: _water_.  
  
Ardyn rushed forward. He fell to his knees at the edge of the pool and eagerly scooped up the cool liquid, bringing it to his mouth for a drink and then pressing his damp hands to his face. After hours unsuccessfully scouring the area, the oasis was a welcome relief. Wiping the excess water from his brow with his scarf, Ardyn sat back on his heels. He’d have to move on eventually and get back to tracking his prey, but a short break never hurt anyone. Perhaps if he simply…laid back and closed his eyes for a moment.  
  
When he awoke, it was _significantly_ cooler.  
  
“ _Damn_ ,” Ardyn swore, opening his eyes to find the starry night sky above him. His mark was probably long gone -- who knew if he would find its trail again.  
  
He stood up and began to scavenge along the water’s edge for anything that might resemble food. He could _try_ catching fish by hand in a pinch, or whittling a stick for a makeshift spear -- but that was assuming there even _were_ fish here.  
  
A splash nearby gave him pause. He looked up, a short ways down the shore, and became immediately certain that he was either still asleep, or was hallucinating from starvation or dehydration.  
  
Black chocobos had been extinct for _at least_ a millennium. So there could not _possibly_ be one standing beside him, nonchalantly taking a drink at the same oasis from which he had refreshed himself. Surely this was a normal, run-of-the-mill yellow bird, and it was only the darkness of night that gave its feathers such an eerie look.  
  
But, if it truly _were_ a black chocobo, and he _happened_ to catch it…well, it would certainly make up for the missed bounty on the sabertusk.  
  
Ardyn approached the bird slowly. He was fairly certain he still had a few sprigs of gysahl greens in one of the pouches on his belt. He unbuttoned the flap and felt around inside -- ah-ha. With the other hand, he unhooked the coiled-up hunter’s rope from his belt. Ardyn came up beside the chocobo, holding out the greens in his hand. He was close enough now to see that it really _was_ pitch black, from its crest to its tailfeathers. _Astrals above_.  
  
The bird noticed him approaching and began to _kweh_ nervously, shying away.  
  
“There now, it’s alright,” said Ardyn reassuringly. “Look, I’ve brought greens for you.”  
  
The chocobo craned its long neck towards Ardyn. It sniffed at the greens and squawked loudly, sounding almost _irritated_. It threw its head back and began to walk away.  
  
“Wait! Don’t go!” Ardyn called after it, but he had nothing else to offer. He’d never heard of a chocobo that didn’t eat _greens_ \-- but then again, who was to say _what_ black chocobos ate? No one had seen a living specimen in a thousand years, til now.  
  
Well, in the absence of proper bait, he still had his rope. He swiftly tied it off into a lasso and followed after the bird, which was trotting off towards the brush. Ardyn swooped the rope low at the ground and then swung it up over his head, spinning it faster and faster. At the crucial moment, he launched it at the chocobo, and -- by some miracle -- managed to loop the rope precisely around the bird’s neck.  
  
It let out a piercing cry as Ardyn pulled the rope taut, stopping it in its tracks momentarily. It looked back at Ardyn, and Ardyn could have _sworn_ it _frowned_ at him with its beak.  
  
Ardyn began to walk towards it, cooing affectionately. “There we are, that’s a dear. Just stay right there…”  
  
Naturally, it took off galloping the minute he got close.  
  
“ _Shit!_ ” Ardyn yelled, holding fast to his rope, as the bird dragged him through the thorny bushes and out into the deserts of Leide.  
  
He pulled himself up the rope, trying to get to his feet or at least somewhere less dangerous than next to the _chocobo’s_ feet, equipped as they were with razor-sharp talons. Instinctively, Ardyn grasped onto the bird’s back, but came away with a handful of feathers instead--  
  
\--and suddenly found himself rolling into the dirt. He coughed and spat the dust from his mouth. Ardyn furrowed his brow as he looked to the end of the rope. It was still in his grip, but the chocobo was no longer there -- it had been replaced by a very pretty young man with dark hair, lovely cheekbones, and a frown on his face. Most strikingly, the fellow was _completely_ nude. Ardyn tried not to stare and failed, miserably.  
  
The young man stood and walked towards Ardyn, seemingly unbothered by the rope still hanging limply around his neck.  
  
“Give them back,” the young man demanded.  
  
“Give _what_ back?” asked Ardyn, who was standing and brushing himself off. He was beginning to feel quite ridiculous about this whole situation and half-wondered if he really wasn’t still asleep, and this was all a _very_ strange dream.  
  
“Don’t _mess_ with me.” The young man hissed through gritted teeth. “ _Give them back_.” He nodded to Ardyn’s fist.  
  
Ardyn looked down at his hand. “The feathers?”  
  
“They’re _mine_. Give them to me.”  
  
The feathers were… _his_? And the black chocobo at the end of his rope had disappeared, yet this young man had appeared with it around his neck… Ardyn had heard old folktales of creatures matching such a description: beasts who would become human if their skins or feathers were taken. But he _never_ thought he would run across one himself as, well, he never believed they were _real_. Yet here he was, with this chocobo- _cum_ -man, nude as nature made him.  
  
Ardyn pursed his lips. “I’m afraid I can’t do that. Not without something in return, anyway.”  
  
The young man crossed his arms, mulling it over. “Fine. What do you want?”  
  
Ardyn jerked the rope towards himself, yanking the young man closer to him. “I’d very much like _you_.”  
  
“I’m not yours to have.”  
  
“Ah, what a shame. Wouldn’t you like these?” He held up the glossy black feathers and placed them delicately in his coat pocket.  
  
The young man rolled his eyes. “I didn’t say we couldn’t _mate_. Think you’re the first human I’ve been with? _Please_. What I _meant_ was--” He shoves Ardyn to the ground and straddles him. “--that _I_ am the _Rider_ here.”  
  
Ardyn was beginning to think that he _may_ have miscalculated.  
  
\----------------  
  
When Ardyn awoke facedown in the noonday Leidan sun with his pants down and his buttocks _well_ baked, the young man was gone -- and so were Ardyn’s rope and canteen. He sat up carefully, wincing at his sore rear. Ardyn sighed. It served him right, really.  
  
He already knew the answer, but he checked his coat pocket anyway. The feathers were gone -- but something else had been left in its place? This was not what Ardyn had expected. He pulled the item from his pocket and squinted at it. A coin? He brought the coin closer to his face. It was difficult to make out the numbers on the face, but it almost looked like the coin had been minted over five hundred years ago, back when they still made coins out of solid gold. It would be worth a fortune if it were real.  
  
But surely it wasn’t real. Just like black chocobos had been extinct for a thousand years, and creatures who turned into men didn’t exist.  
  
Ardyn stood up, zipped up his pants, and made for the nearest outpost, grimacing with every step.


End file.
